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Sunday, 11 February 2018

Do I look excited?

The jumping up and down, 90-mile-an-hour handclapping and happy dancing round the room may be a bit of a giveaway.
After years (over 20) of lying unloved and forgotten in a file (or six) on my computer, I'm breathing life into some of the very first stories I ever wrote. If you're a writer, you'll know the ones I mean; every author has them. The ones you wrote just to see if you could do this writing thing. And I suspect many others have a tale or two tucked away.
The reason I'm revamping these naughty shorts is because they all feature a topic I cannot escape from right now - the sexploitation of young, vulnerable (mostly) women.

The strongest motivation for me is the opportunity to change the commonly held opinion amongst people who have never been in the sorry situations these girls find themselves in. The attitudes that, "she was asking for it," or "she should have just stood up for herself," or the fallback, "what did she expect, dressing like that?"
Trust me, it's really hard when the person abusing is someone you've been told you should respect: a family member, a customer, a boss. And who's gonna believe the words of a mere girl over a respectable pillar of society?
Hopefully, these stories will do their bit to open eyes and change attitudes.

Right now, I've just come to the end of some intensive edits, and in some cases and almost complete overhaul. Back in the mid 90's, I was learning my craft and the prose, plotting and (especially) grammar/punctuation left a lot to be desired. With the help of my awesome editor, they are now fit for human consumption, but I need some help. If you are interested in helping with this venture, I'm in desperate need of some beta readers. Find out more here.